Ask Your Father Luke 11:5-13
Notes
Transcript
Luke 11:5-13
Luke 11:5-13
Text: Luke 11:5-13
Truth: Because of God’s love, He answers the prayers of those who approach Him boldly, and who are persistent .
Introduction:
5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves,
6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’;
7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’?
8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs.
9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you.
10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent;
12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion?
13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Pray...
This is something we are all familiar with doing. Like other things dealing with the faith, some people are more seasoned, or more mature in the faith. Often times people make praying more complicated than it should be. This can be because people don’t know how, are afraid, feel like their speech isn't Holy, or some even feel as though they are bothering God. That’s not how it’s supposed to be. As we prepare to go through this lesson let’s look at some context . If you have your Bibles with you, turn to Luke 11. This is a few verses before what we will be studying tonight. One of His disciples asked Him the question of how to pray to the Father. If we look at verse one and following, we will see Jesus’ reply.
1 Now Jesus was praying in a certain place, and when he finished, one of his disciples said to him, “Lord, teach us to pray, as John taught his disciples.” 2 And he said to them, “When you pray, say: “Father, hallowed be your name. Your kingdom come. 3 Give us each day our daily bread, 4 and forgive us our sins, for we ourselves forgive everyone who is indebted to us. And lead us not into temptation.”
Another, more familiar version is found in
9 Pray then like this: “Our Father in heaven, hallowed be your name. 10 Your kingdom come, your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven. 11 Give us this day our daily bread, 12 and forgive us our debts, as we also have forgiven our debtors. 13 And lead us not into temptation, but deliver us from evil.
Some versions like the NKJV include “for Yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory forever.
We can break this prayer down real quick. This is the model prayer that Jesus taught His disciples. I know most of you have this prayer memorized but have you ever broke it down to understand the beauty and power it holds. “Our Father in Heaven, hallowed be your name.” God is our Father, He is not of this world but dwells in Heaven, His name is Holy. “Your Kingdom come, Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.” Take Jesus as an example when He was praying in the garden just before being arrested in Matthew 26:39
39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Jesus didn't want to die even though He knew when and how He had to. But yet He still prayed to His father that if it was possible to let the cup pass meaning He wouldn't have to be killed. He followed that up with “either way, it’s not My will but Yours” acknowledging and being faithful to God’s will.
“Give us this day our daily bread.” Father, thank you for providing for our needs. “Forgive our debts as we have forgiven our debtors.” Jesus says in verse 14 “for if you forgive men their trespasses (sins), your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive men their trespasses (sins), neither will your Father forgive your trespasses.” Hopefully that gives you more understanding of that prayer and that it’s more than just something we memorize and quote before a football game. If you can remember from some of my other lessons, I have made the statement of praying is your part of the conversation, the Word is God’s part. Paul says in
6 do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7 And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.
How do we ask God for something in prayer? The God of creation, the sovereign God, the Alpha and the Omega…how do we ask Him for anything since He has given us so much to be thankful for. Even just being alive and taking a breath is a gift from God. Jesus explains how we should accomplish this in Luke 11:5-13. If you have your Bible turn to Luke 11. Starting at verse 5
5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’? 8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened. 11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
The question at hand is, “in what way should we pray or approach talking to God?” The first point we are going to discuss is Approaching God boldly.
A- Approach God Boldly (v.5-7)
A- Approach God Boldly (v.5-7)
5 And he said to them, “Which of you who has a friend will go to him at midnight and say to him, ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, 6 for a friend of mine has arrived on a journey, and I have nothing to set before him’; 7 and he will answer from within, ‘Do not bother me; the door is now shut, and my children are with me in bed. I cannot get up and give you anything’?
Jesus tells the parable of a friend who went to another friend in the middle of the night to ask for some loaves of bread. He’s wanting the bread for one of his friends who just came through on a journey. In this culture, hospitality is huge. I’ll help anyone but if you show up at my house at midnight and ask me for some bread because your friend just came in town…I’m going to respond the same way this man did. “ Nah OG, you see my doors are shut, it’s midnight and you want bread? If you wake these kids, we will have issues.” It would go something like that.
That’s how humans would respond, but not God. There is no such thing as interrupting God. You aren't intruding, There is no “you caught me at a bad time” from Him. Do any of you remember or know the story of Elijah when he was on Mount Carmel? If you want to read this yourself in your own time its in 1 Kings 18:20-40. Elijah and Ahab were in a competition to see which god was the one true god. Elijah said it was God, Ahab believed it was Baal. They each built an alter and placed a bull on it. Whoevers god could cause the alter to catch on fire was the one true god. Elijah told Ahab he could go first. They began to chant, yell, do ritualistic dances, and even cut themselves. Elijah began to mock their god. He said things like, “maybe he’s busy, maybe he doesn't care, maybe he’s relieving himself, or maybe hes asleep or cant hear you…yell louder”…funny thing is....they actually started yelling louder to get Baal’s attention. Long story short, Elijah prayed one, bold sentence and God sent fire from the skies, igniting the alter that Elijah had soaked in water just for an extra razzle dazzle.
The point I’m making is, our God is not too busy, He does care, and He hears every prayer. Approach Him boldly. Pour out all of your hurt, your worries, your struggles, your dreams…pour them out boldly.
To be bold is to show your faithfulness to God.
S- Seek With Persistence (v.8-10)
S- Seek With Persistence (v.8-10)
8 I tell you, though he will not get up and give him anything because he is his friend, yet because of his impudence he will rise and give him whatever he needs. 9 And I tell you, ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 10 For everyone who asks receives, and the one who seeks finds, and to the one who knocks it will be opened.
Jesus continues the parable and says that the man gave him the bread but not because he was a friend but because the man did not stop asking. Impudence means persistence, or continuing to pursue something. You can imagine the reason the man gave the bread was due to the other man not letting up and continuing to ask and knock. These were one room homes where everyone slept together so you can bet with all the talking, and all the knocking, the kids were awake. This man had had enough and gave the man the three loaves he requested.
How many of you have been out to eat before and a kid be present at the table. The kid is going crazy, bouncing all over the place,and has knocked over three teas. All while this is happening the kid keeps asking to play on the parents phone. At first the parents say no but then the kid start trying to sword fight with the forks on the table and there it is…one parent caves and says “here, keep the volume down.” That kid got that phone because they would not stop until they got it. It was given as a way to be done with the problem.
God’s not like that. He gives because He loves, not because we are burdensome to Him.
Prayer needs to be persistent. A lot of times we can give one or two heartfelt prayers asking for healing, success, or help with something and it gets left at that. Stay persistent. There are no such thing as an unanswered prayer, so don't get discouraged. God will answer a prayer in one of four ways. It’s either no, not right now/it’s not time, you need to mature more in the faith, or yes.
If you feel your prayers are going “unanswered” pray about why you feel that way. Ask God to show you or teach you. How do we do that? By abiding in God’s Word. It’s not just a change of heart that affects prayer, it’s a mindset change as well. Slow down, meditate on the Word, read old prayer journals, really soak it in prayer for the wisdom to understand. If you do these things, God will give you what you ask, show you things you wish to see, and open doors to anything greater than you yourself could imagine.
K- Know God’s Love (v.11-13)
K- Know God’s Love (v.11-13)
11 What father among you, if his son asks for a fish, will instead of a fish give him a serpent; 12 or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!”
Here is where we wrap everything up. Jesus is saying that no father will give other than what their child is asking for. If he ask for a fish, the father wouldn't give him a snake. Jesus says “if you then who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, more much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those who ask Him!”
To understand this we must understand God’s love for us, individually and as a whole. We will never be able to grasp at just how much love He has for us. Every single cell in our body was designed by Him, to the point no two are alike. We are talking love all the way to a cellular level from before creation!!! He loves us so much that He sent His Son, Jesus, to live in the flesh, and to die on a cross for each and every one of us. His love didn't stop there. He said that to all who believe in His son, should not perish/die but have everlasting life. With that belief comes not only a new creation but now the Holy Spirit dwells within you. He sent His Son to save us from sin and death and to give us life and have it abundantly. That’s the tip of the iceberg when it comes to how much God loves us and How much He gives us.
As I said before, there are no such things as unanswered prayers. People don't like to accept no or not right now as an answer but to the people that think or feel that way I would challenge you to search your heart. God doesn't ignore, His will is better than ours could ever be. Take Jesus as an example in Matthew 26:39
39 And going a little farther he fell on his face and prayed, saying, “My Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me; nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will.”
Even God told His own Son no. But He said no because it had to be done according to His will and to fulfill prophesy. It may be brutal temporarily but because God is a loving God, He promised to always be right there, to give use strength, peace, rest, and everything else to pull through whatever we are battling.
He may say no because He knows whats on the other side of the mountain. He may say not right now because the timing isn't right or some things need to occur first. God may hold off because you need to be more mature spiritually. Or He may give everyone's favorite answer of yes.
God loves you. When you pray, approach Him with boldness, seek with persistence, and remain faithful because you know the love He has for you. God is omnipresent and sovereign so as He is helping with the countries at war, He can still hear your prayers…no matter how small or how big.
It’s ok if you don't know what to say. It’s ok if you don't speak fluent christianese. Just talk to Him, don't be afraid. There’s times where I don't even know where to start, so that's where I start. “God I don't even know how to start or even how to gather my thoughts at this point but here it is.” Be bold, and pour your heart out because He is listening, He does care. He is just a Father who loves to hear and help His children.
